Scientology

Tom Cruise admitted that Katie Holmes left him partly because of his ties to Scientology.

Cruise sat for a deposition in his $50 million libel suit against a magazine company that claimed he abandoned his daughter Suri.

In the deposition ... Cruise squirmed in his chair as the lawyer for the magazine repeatedly asked if Katie fled their marriage because of the Church. Cruise hemmed and hawed, suggesting it wasn't true, and then the lawyer asked whether "Katie Holmes left you in part to protect Suri from Scientology."

Cruise answered: "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes."

Cruise also admitted that Suri is NOT a member of Scientology anymore.

The story that triggered the lawsuit claimed Tom abandoned his daughter. In his depo, Cruise says for the period between June 18, 2012 and Thanksgiving, 2012, he estimates he only saw Suri 10 days. During one stretch ... Tom admits he didn't see his daughter for more than 100 days.

The lawyer for the magazine grilled Tom about his desire to see Suri. The lawyer pulled out aviation documents showing Tom flew from Pittsburgh to London on Oct. 15 for the International Association of Scientology convention. Tom returned to Pittsburgh the next day. Tom said it was very important to attend, and then the lawyer made it clear Tom never took such quick trips to see Suri.

And in another part of the deposition, the magazine's lawyer brought up the part of the story in which they claimed Suri was "upset and crying a lot" when Tom was absent. In the depo, Tom admits being absent, but adamantly denied Suri was upset.

Tom Cruise is declaring he's a damn good dad to Suri ... opening up for the first time about his divorce from Katie Holmes and how it affected his relationship with his daughter.

Cruise just filed docs in his $50 million lawsuit against the publisher of "Life & Style" and "In Touch" magazines for cover stories that claimed he "abandoned" Suri after divorcing Katie in June 2012.

In the docs, Cruise says ... "I have in no way cut Suri out of my life -- whether physically, emotionally, financially or otherwise."

He goes on to cite specific times he saw his daughter in person in the months following the divorce, and says ... "even during the times when I was working overseas and was not able to see Suri in person, we were (and continue to be) extremely close."

The docs are pretty revealing ... since Tom has said next to nothing publicly about the divorce from Katie.

Cruise admits he was busy shooting 2 movies when "In Touch" ran its headline, "Abandoned by Daddy" -- however he says, "As my numerous emails with Suri's mother during this time period demonstrate, I was a constant presence in Suri's life."

Tom's declaration continues ... "While I'm sure my daughter misses me when I am not with her (as I miss her), she is a very happy child, and we have a wonderful relationship and cheerful phone calls."

Leah Remini is going from Dianetics to disco ... TMZ has learned, the famous ex-Scientologist will appear in the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars" ... and Snooki will be making her post-pregnancy debut along with her.

Sources close to production tell us, the former "King of Queens" actress is on the show.

As we reported, Remini recently underwent a very public split from the Church of Scientology after raising questions about the disappearance of church leader David Miscavige's wife Shelly.

Remini filed a missing persons report regarding Shelly's disappearance in July, demanding answers, and the Church was NOT pleased ... ripping the actress for her wanton betrayal.

FYI, police claim they made contact with Shelly in the wake of Remini's report and determined Remini's concerns were "unfounded." Eerie.

In addition to Remini and Snooki, our sources say Elizabeth Berkley, Amber Riley from "Glee," and Christina Milian will also be on the show.

Famed ex-Scientologist Leah Remini was photographed on Friday, looking alive and well after she turned her back on the Church.

You'll recall, Remini left Scientology recently, then turned around and slapped the Church in the face by filing a missing persons report regarding the bizarre disappearance of Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige. The Church was not happy.

It's been a few days since the pic was taken, but as far as we know, she is still breathing.

If you ask the ShamWow guy, she might want to lay low for a while, maybe find herself a safe house, or a relative close by.

You don't attack the Church of Scientology and get away with it ... not by a long shot -- so says one famous ex-Scientologist Vince Offer (the ShamWow Guy), who tells TMZ, Leah Remini is lucky she's still alive.

Offer was out in L.A last night -- and it's clear he's still concerned about L. Ron Hubbard's followers after his highly-publicized split from the Church ten years ago ... because he was VERY hesitant to talk about Remini's situation.

You'll recall, the "King of Queens" actress recently left the Church, then filed a missing persons report regarding Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige. The Church was PISSED.

Offer called Remini's move "brave," but said he couldn't say much more because he values his life ... and he wasn't kidding. You have to see how scared this guy is.

Leah Remini is the new QUEEN of the ex-Scientologists -- according to two famous defectors ... because she had the iron gonads to stand up to the Church.

As you know ... Leah filed a missing person's report with the LAPD ... claiming Shelly Miscavige, the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige ... hadn't been seen for 6 years. Detectives found Shelly and determined she's fine.

Marc and Claire Headley -- two outspoken, former high-ranking Scientologists are praising Leah for her testicular fortitude. Claire tells us, "Shelly was seen for the first time in 7 years. At least we know she's alive."

Claire is skeptical that Shelly is exercising free will, and believes the outreach by Leah will show Shelly that people care about her "on the outside."

The Church of Scientology is spewing venom at Leah Remini for daring to file a report with the LAPD ... claiming the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige is missing.

A Church rep claims Leah cooked up the allegation "with unemployed, anti-religious zealots."

Leah -- who broke ties with Scientology last month -- was alarmed that Shelly Miscavige hasn't been seen publicly in 6 years. The LAPD closed out its investigation last night, and as TMZ first reported, cops say they had a face to face with Shelly. They did not indicate if they probed as to whether Shelly was being held against her will.

The Church rep calls Leah's actions "an inexcusable distraction for the LAPD."

And the Church took this shot: "Sadly, rather than move on with her life and career, Ms. Remini has aligned herself with a handful of untrustworthy, lunatic tabloid sources who obsessively harass the Church to advance their selfish agendas."

Someone is pissed.

The LAPD has CLOSED its missing persons investigation involving the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige ... because cops had a face-to-face meeting with her ... TMZ has learned.

The investigation was launched after LAPD detectives received reports that Shelly Miscavige had not been seen publicly in 6 years. As we previously reported, one of the people who contacted cops was actress Leah Remini.

Law enforcement tells TMZ they have determined the missing persons allegation is "unfounded."

3:22 PM PT -- The Church of Scientology is firing back ... a rep tells TMZ, "This is just harassment. It is a publicity stunt cooked up by a small band of unemployed fanatics who live on the fringe of the Internet."

The rep continues, "The Church and the attorney for Mrs. Miscavige have already responded to this ludicrous claim -- as you noted yourself in your story."

Leah Remini has filed a missing persons report with the LAPD regarding the wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige ... this, less than one month after Leah severed ties with the Church.

TMZ spoke with the Los Angeles Police Department which confirmed there is an ongoing investigation into the whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige ... but wouldn't say if Remini has any connection to the case.

But sources tell TMZ ... Remini personally filed the report sometime after severing ties with Scientology last month.

According to a report on the Hollywood Reporter, Shelly hasn't made a public appearance in six years -- though in 2012, her attorneys issued a statement saying, "Any reports that [Shelly] is missing are false."

So far, no comment from Remini's people. Calls to Scientology have not been returned.

Tom Cruise has an enemies list -- just like Richard Nixon -- but instead of targeting Commies, Cruise is zeroing in on the anti-Scientology folks.

TMZ has learned .... Cruise put mags that have written scathing stories about Suri and/or L. Ron Hubbard's crew on the persona-non-grata list for the premiere of his movie, "Oblivion."

Banned from the red carpet this week -- US Weekly, Life & Style, In Touch and The Hollywood Reporter.

Cruise is particularly pissed at THR, which has written more than 20 unflattering Scientology stories in less than a year. As for the tabs, he's upset that they've been snarking at Suri.

Call us suspicious ... or conspiracy theorists ... or whatever ... but we may have found proof that Suri Cruise is actually using a TINY BODY DOUBLE to fool the media!!!

Exhibit A -- Suri getting out of an SUV in NYC this weekend wearing a beanie, blue bubble jacket, leggings and brown Uggs.

Exhibit B -- Another little girl who sorta looks like Suri getting out of the exact same SUV wearing an IDENTICAL OUTFIT ... with a different colored beanie.

So what does it all mean??? Is Suri trying to dupe the media? Is the other girl in on some sort of diabolical plot? Or ... are they just friends who like to wear the same clothes?

We know, that's ridiculous ... IT'S TOTALLY A BODY DOUBLE!!!

Johnny Lewis' father tried to help his son multiple times before his death ... telling TMZ he believed Johnny's last stint in a treatment center was finally going to work.

A close family source of Johnny's tells TMZ that Johnny tried a few different Scientology approved treatment center, but they didn't work.

So Johnny's father, Michael Lewis -- a high level Scientologist who was once close to L. Ron Hubbard -- tells TMZ he then turned to a treatment facility in Altadena, CA called Ridgeview Ranch as a last resort. Ridgeview describes itself as specializing in the "treatment of mental heath and/or drugs and alcohol."

Michael tells us that Johnny responded well to the environment at Ridgeview -- the staff was supportive, the program seemed to be working and says he thought "it would stick this time."

Michael says that Johnny's treatment physician at Ridgeview advised against the use of psychiatric medication (which is highly frowned upon in Scientology) and used an alternative approach to getting well.

However, after a short stint at Ridgeview Johnny opted to finish the rest of his sentence in jail ... insisting he had no drug or psychiatric problems.

Johnny Lewis -- the "Sons of Anarchy" star who murdered his landlady, dismembered her cat and then fell to his death in what appears to be a drug-fueled rage -- had deep ties to Scientology and its drug abuse program ... TMZ has learned.

We've learned Johnny's father, Michael Lewis, has reached one of the highest levels in the Church of Scientology. In fact, in the 80s Michael co-wrote a movie with L. Ron Hubbard about L.Ron's "discovery" of Dianetics.

Johnny was also active in the Church, especially the drug abuse program -- Narconon. In 2004, Johnny is seen (above) speaking at a substance abuse prevention event in the O.C. on behalf of Narconon. The reason Johnny spoke was because he was in a new show, "Quintuplets," and Scientology posted on its website that Johnny's mother used the principles of Narconon to keep him off drugs, and it worked.

Ironically, it didn't work because -- as we reported -- Johnny was in rehab this year (not Narconon) and eyewitnesses say he was clearly on drugs at the time of the murder.

Interestingly ... after we contacted Scientology about this story, they removed the photo of Johnny from all of their websites as well as the story about his appearance at the O.C. drug abuse event.

Tom Cruise controlled Katie Holmes like a puppetmaster ... making every major and even minor decision in her personal and professional life ... and in the end, she felt like she couldn't breathe without his permission ... this according to sources close to the actress.

Movie studio-connected sources tell us Tom executed an "Art Kill" way back when Katie was doing "Thank You for Smoking" in 2005 ... when the 2 first started dating.

Sources tell us Tom instructed producers to "kill" any promotional photos which showed Katie and Aaron Eckhart engaged in kissing or "anything else compromising."

We're told Tom also imposed his will during "Batman Begins" ... prohibiting Katie from flying with the rest of the cast. Instead, Katie would only travel on Tom's private jet. One source tells us Morgan Freeman was "disgusted" by the situation. On the other side, however, one source scoffed and said, "Wow, Tom offered her his private jet. How terrible for Katie."

Ultimately, our Katie sources say she grew sick and tired of playing Pinocchio to Tom's Geppetto ... and decided it was time to cut the strings.

Morgan Freeman tells us, claims he was "disgusted" by Tom and Katie's situation are "BS."

Katie Holmes may say her decision to divorce Tom Cruise is over Scientology, but it's NOT ... so say sources directly connected to Tom.

Our sources tell us ... they believe Katie and her team are leaking false stories to the media by maintaining she was trying to save Suri from the grips of Scientology, and that's why she left Tom.

As one well-connected Tom source put it, "She [Katie] was totally committed to Scientology. She had enthusiasm for it and would voluntarily and gladly participate in it when Tom was off shooting movies."

The source adds, "This is not a fight over religion. It's being used as a way to hurt Tom."

And on the subject of hurting Tom, as we first reported, sources connected with the actor tell us Katie's people have made it difficult for him to speak with Suri by phone, but he's talked to her every day. He has no immediate plans to see his daughter because he's leaving today or tomorrow to shoot his new movie in the Rockies.

Tom's lawyers have not filed any docs in court -- yet -- to establish his custodial rights. If that happens, we're told they will file in New York, although it's pretty clear they will ask to have the case sent to California.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have cut off all contact with each other, and her people are making it difficult for Tom to have contact with his daughter ... sources very familiar with the situation tell TMZ.

Although Tom now has "absolutely no contact with Katie," his people are negotiating/bickering with Katie's people over when and how Tom can talk to Suri. We're told Tom does speak with his daughter by phone at least once a day, but sources connected with Tom say it hasn't been easy.

We're told when Tom's on the phone with Suri, there is one place he has not gone ... he has NOT discussed the breakup of his marriage with his daughter.

As for when Tom will attempt to see Suri ... sources say it's not going to happen for awhile. We're told Tom was in L.A. for the 4th but he's leaving before the weekend to shoot his new movie in the Rockies.

Our sources say things are "really bitter now" between Tom and Katie. He feels betrayed by her and thinks she is using Suri as a weapon.